‘Mary Is at Work Here’

New Hampshire State Prison for Men inmates are first prison group to make 33 Days Marian consecration.

By Felix Carroll | Marian Helper (Spring 2014)

It was a break-in, not a breakout. Led by a group of volunteers who understand the high spiritual stakes, the Blessed Virgin Mary has made her way through prison walls in New Hampshire, entering into an atmosphere hitherto described by one inmate as a “crucible of discouragement and humiliation.”

In November, 13 inmates at New Hampshire State Prison for Men comprised the first prison group to make the consecration to Jesus through Mary using the group-retreat program for 33 Days to Morning Glory, a do-it-yourself retreat written by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC.

The momentous event in the lives of the inmates was also an historic moment in the evangelization efforts of the Marian Fathers, who pray that the prison group is the first of many to make the Marian consecration.

“Jesus said, ‘I was … in prison and you visited Me’ (Mt 25:36). To this day, prisoners are our forgotten brothers and sisters,” said Fr. Michael. “Now, seeing how Mary has so profoundly touched the lives of inmates in New Hampshire is inspiring us to redouble our efforts to get 33 Days into more prisons across the country. I firmly believe that Our Mother of Mercy desires this for her forgotten children.”

Eric Mahl (left), a Marian lay aggregate, has helped spearhead the Marians' evangelization efforts.  Standing in front of New Hampshire State Prison for Men, he is joined by prison ministry volunteers Jean Fafard, Nate Chapman, David Kemmis, and Fr. Wilfred Deschamps.

God Doesn’t Give up on Us

On a cold Nov. 24, the solemnity of Christ the King, inmates enter the prison chapel for Sunday Mass, all dressed in drab green, their first names stitched upon their shirts.

Visiting priest Fr. Wilfred Deschamps greets them one by one. An ardent supporter of the 33 Days program, he wanted to be here for the inmates’ consecration. He’s thrilled to learn of the Gospel reading for the day, from Luke 23:35-43. It couldn’t be more suitable for the setting and the occasion. In it, Jesus, dying on the cross, promises heaven to the repentant criminal hanging beside Him.

“No matter what we have done,” Fr. Deschamps tells the inmates in his homily, “God loves us. He doesn’t give up on anyone.”

Moments later, he invites the inmates participating in 33 Days to come before the altar. Between Oct. 20 and this day, the inmates met weekly to pray together, watch Fr. Michael’s DVD presentations, and then discuss the material on Marian consecration. And as the 33 Days program progressed, they felt a brotherhood developing between them that has helped to strengthen them against the bouts of loneliness, despair, and fear they face in prison.

“Mary is at work here,” says Deacon Jim Daly, the prison’s Catholic chaplain.

Led by Fr. Deschamps, the inmates make their consecration, pledging to “renew and ratify” the vows of their Baptism, renounce Satan, and give themselves to Mary to be formed into the image of her Son.

“I felt this overwhelming peace coming over me,” an inmate named Lawrence said afterwards.

So what has been so extraordinary about the experience?

“Knowing that we are loved,” Lawrence said, “in a place where you can be so bitter and angry, to know we can go to Mary.”

Why These Inmates?

Nearly two million copies of 33 Days to Morning Glory are now in print. It has consistently been among the top 10 Catholic books on Amazon.com for the past two years.

Prison volunteer Nate Chapman of New Hampshire and three fellow devotees of Mary named David Kemmis, Jean Fafard, and Jim Preisendorfer are among the hundreds of thousands who have made the consecration. Having done so, they knew the inmates would benefit from it. When approached about it, Deacon Daly welcomed it as a “dream come true.”

The Marians believe Mary chose this particular group of inmates to be the first. That reason eventually was revealed. It turns out that one of the participating inmates was Pornchai Moontri, who was featured in last year’s Marian Press title Loved, Lost, Found: 17 Divine Mercy Conversions. Moreover, before joining the Marians’ Evangelization Department a year ago and helping to spearhead the 33 Days initiative, Eric Mahl was also featured in the book.

Eric and Pornchai met for the first time in November when Eric presented to the inmates during one of the six weekly meetings for the group retreat.

“I felt like I met my brother, someone I’ve known my whole life,” Eric said afterwards.

As Loved, Lost, Found reveals, Pornchai, 40, is serving a 45-year prison sentence for a murder he committed when he was 19. He experienced a dramatic conversion several years ago in no small part due to a friendship he formed with fellow inmate — and now cellmate — Fr. Gordon MacRae, convicted in 1994 on charges of sexual assault that have since been called into question. Father Gordon — who chronicles his life in his celebrated website, Beyond These Stone Walls — has gained widespread public support for his cause, including from the late Cardinal Avery Dulles.

Now in his 20th year of incarceration, he joined Pornchai in the consecration and called it a “great spiritual gift” that opened “a door to the rebirth of trust” at a particularly dark time for both men. He and Pornchai signed up for the program reluctantly, but Mr. Chapman’s introduction “instantly awakened us to our very purpose for being there. It could be summarized in one sentence: ‘Great suffering requires great trust.’”

‘Mary Has a Special Love for You’

Eric returned to the prison on the day of the consecration and spoke to the inmates about Mary’s desire to enter the prison. He likened it to the scene in The Passion of The Christ when Mary lay on a floor in the Temple complex to get close to her Son who was suffering, imprisoned in a cell below her.

“That’s Mary right now,” Eric told the inmates. “By doing this consecration, you’re opening the door for her. You may be that Christ — shackled and bloody and so full of pain. All she wants to do is take care of us and bring us to Christ. Mary has a special love for you, but now it’s your job to pray for other inmates. Where Mary is, the Holy Spirit is, and where the Holy Spirit is, there is conversion and sanctification.”

For more information about the 33 Days retreat, visit allheartsafire.org.

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